


Battle Buddies

by frozensea



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Crack, Fluff, Force-Sensitive Finn (Star Wars), Humor, M/M, Post-Canon, accidental pet acquisition
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:08:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22779220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frozensea/pseuds/frozensea
Summary: Finn moved closer to the old imperial shuttle Poe had been trying to get flight-worthy. "There's something up there."He saw a shadow move along the hull, the swish of a tail, and then... nothing.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Finn
Comments: 16
Kudos: 91
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 5





	Battle Buddies

**Author's Note:**

  * For [owenmeany](https://archiveofourown.org/users/owenmeany/gifts).



"This is not a good idea."

"Finn. Buddy. We've both seen Rey lift boulders the size of a speeder without breaking a sweat. You can't tell me that this tiny little wrench is going to be a problem for you."

"Why did you put it up there in the first place?"

"I was fixing the ion cannons on this old rust bucket. It must have slipped off my belt before I climbed back down. Now please don't make me walk all the way across the hangar to get the ladder. This will take you less than a second."

Finn looked uncertainly from Poe to the wrench. "I don't know. What if I lose control and it knocks someone in the head?"

Poe gestured grandly towards the back of the hangar. "Look around. Everyone else is busy closing up because of the storm. There's no one close by who could get hurt. Besides, Rey told you to practice while she's away, right? So go ahead, prac-"

The wrench clattered to the ground.

"Awesome. Thank you."

"Ah, that wasn't me."

Poe straightened, carelessly twirling the wrench in his hand. "What do you mean?"

Ignoring him, Finn moved closer to the old imperial shuttle Poe had been trying to get flight-worthy. "There's something up there."

He saw a shadow move along the hull, the swish of a tail, and then... nothing.

He hurried around the wing, Poe following on his heels. "Where did it go?"

"I didn't see anything," Poe said doubtfully. "Maybe the wind knocked it down."

Finn was still scanning the ship. "I know what I saw."

"Well, whatever it was, it's smart enough not to hang around." He had to raise his voice to be heard over the howling storm. "Come on. Let's close those doors."

Reluctantly, Finn allowed himself to be tugged into the hanger where the large bay doors closed behind him.

* * *

The storm had not abated during the night, which meant that the base was on lockdown as long as their scout and supply ships could neither land nor take off.

Like most of the Resistance, Finn used the opportunity to help restore the X-Wings and shuttles that had been slowly rusting away in the moon's damp climate.

It wasn't until a member of Black Squadron dropped off some food that Finn realized they'd been working through lunch, and he gratefully took a bite out of the jogan fruit cake that sat beside a bowl of steaming stew. (Much to Poe's amusement, Finn always went for the dessert before the main dish, but the Stormtroopers' mess halls had always been sorely lacking in sweets, and he wasn't going to let something delicious pass him by, now that it was available.)

Ignoring Poe's muffled curses as he wrestled with the navigational computer's wiring, Finn exchanged the rest of his cake for his beam cutter and went back to work.

Somewhere in the bowels of the ship, BB-8 beeped in annoyance.

"I know, buddy. I know. Just give me a sec- ha. Got it. How is that? Did it work?" Poe's head popped up from under the ship.

BB-8 answered with a chipper whistle of agreement.

"Yes! I knew we could do it." He turned to Finn. "How's it going on your end?"

"Almost done," Finn said. He sat back and inspected the work he'd done. "Yeah, looks good to me. I can start replacing the parts after lunch, and maybe we'll get this bird in the air today."

He looked towards the hanger doors. "If the storm dies down that is."

Poe slapped the ship's hull enthusiastically. "Excellent. That's what I'm talking about. Good job, guys."

Finn grinned. He reached for what was left of his cake, only for his hand to close around empty air.

"What the blazes…"

His plate was empty. A trail of crumbs led to the landing gear, where he spotted a bushy tail disappear inside the ship.

He jumped to his feet. "Hey, come back here. That's my cake."

As he rushed towards the open maintenance hatch, Poe crawled out from under the lowered cargo door.

"What's going on?"

"It stole my cake!"

"What did?"

"That critter who knocked down the wrench."

Poe joined him at the landing gear, where Finn had wedged himself up to his waist into the small compartment.

After a moment's wriggling and cursing, he pulled back, empty-handed. There were a thousand nooks and crannies where it could be hiding.

Poe slapped a comforting hand to his shoulder. "Come on. Leave it alone. The little fellow deserves a bite to eat."

"Stealing dessert is no laughing matter, Poe."

Poe gave him a long look, his face so carefully blank that Finn realized he was trying very hard not to laugh at him.

He glared at him. Getting a bit… intense over his love of sweet things was no reason to back down.

Wordlessly, Poe offered him his own cake.

A feeling of warmth spreading through his chest, Finn shook his head. "That's yours."

"Which means that I can do with it whatever I want, and I want to give it to you. Now don't be an ass and take it."

His gaze flicking away from the fond exasperation in Poe's eyes, Finn accepted the plate with a mumbled thank you.

He took a bite, then startled when Poe planted a sloppy kiss on his mouth before he turned away with a wink.

"You're welcome."

* * *

His memories of the Stormtrooper's training facilities were accompanied by impressions of rigorous cleanliness. Every surface, every tool, every piece of armor polished to a sheen, with daily inspections assuring that the First Order's standards were met without fail.

During his rotation through the sanitation department, he'd cleaned blood off the floor of interrogation rooms as often as he'd cleaned bathrooms, and sometimes, late at night, he could still feel the exacting stare of a supervisor boring into the back of his head.

However, one time, he couldn't remember how old he'd been (he didn't even know how old he was now) the kitchens and neighboring dorms had been invaded by rodents.

While management had immediately set itself to eradicating the infestation, one of the kids in his unit had trapped one of the animals.

Kept docile with the scraps of food they had stolen from the table, it had become both mascot and pet for their dormitory. At the time, Finn couldn't have explained why everyone kept the animal's existence a secret. As for himself, the sense that this animal deserved death as little as he did was an equally strong motivation as the thrill that came with doing something forbidden.

Two weeks later, the rodent and the kid who'd caught it had disappeared from the dormitory, a stripped-down bed and meticulously cleaned locker a stark reminder that keeping secrets came with a price.

* * *

He couldn't say why he laid the trap. It wasn't as if he and Poe had the time or even space for a pet, given that they were busy hunting down former members of First Order High Command, who'd gone into hiding after the battle of Exegol.

Maybe, the need to keep a clean ship had been so deeply ingrained in him that he needed to make sure the animal didn't gnaw through the wiring. Maybe, despite the First Order's best efforts to stamp down his compassion, he couldn't rest easy knowing the animal was hungry. Or perhaps it was a belated act of rebellion. The First Order had forbidden him from keeping a pet, and this was a way to throw it in their faces, a message that neither Captain Phasma nor any of his former instructors would ever receive, but then again, his defection had been message enough.

Whatever his reasons were, his inability to nail them down didn't stop him from rigging a motion detector to the door of a simple wire cage and leaving a small assortment of fruit, cheese, and dried meat inside. He deliberated for a moment whether or not he should also leave another piece of cake, but ended up wrapping it into a clean piece of linen and stuffing it into his jacket.

This one was for emergencies.

It only took about an hour before the clang of the wire cage snapping shut roused Finn from his work on the shuttle.

Grinning at BB-8, he clambered to his feet and rubbed his hands together. "Sounds like we got him BB-8." He jogged around the shuttle's nose to the haphazard assembly of shelves and storage crates below which he'd placed the trap. BB-8 was beside him, his beeps and whistles mirroring Finn's excitement.

"Now, let's see what kind of sneaky little thief… oh."

Crouching on his heels, Finn looked at the odd creature that was cowering at the back of the cage.

There seemed to be more fur than body. A large silver-blue tail curled tightly around six paws, and a short muzzle sat above a sleek body. Big and round purple eyes regarded him suspiciously, and comically large, pointed, furry ears completed the picture of a cake thief that was…

"Well, isn't that just too cute for words." Poe crouched down next to him, his arm going easily around Finn's shoulders. "Look at him; he's adorable." His grin was all too knowing when he looked at Finn. "We can't keep him."

Finn rolled his eyes and shoved Poe playfully. "I know that."

Losing his balance, Poe landed on his butt, but he took it in stride. "I'm just saying… we're busy people."

Finn's acknowledging "yeah" was almost wistful. He carefully pulled the wire cage out from under the shelf.

The creature started to chatter in a high-pitched series of whines and whistles and frantically tried to climb up the back wall.

"Hey, it's okay. No one is going to hurt you," Finn said soothingly.

Glancing down, Finn found no trace of the food he'd left behind. "You must be half-starved if you already ate everything I left you."

He retrieved the slice of cake from his jacket and broke off a piece. "Here. Do you want some more?"

"Sharing dessert. It must be love," Poe laughed.

Finn ignored his teasing.

At the sight of food, the animal stopped trying to climb the wall. Its fluffy tail twitched nervously, and even though it eyed the cake hungrily it stayed in the back of the cage.

BB-8 rolled to the side of the cage, a low, soothing hum issuing from his vocabulator.

The animal turned to him with a short, uncertain yeep.

"This is BB-8," Finn explained. "He's a friend. We all are." He didn't have any illusion about the animal understanding him, but he hoped that the sound of his voice would reassure it of their good intentions.

Tail swishing around it, the creature took a tentative step forward.

"Yeah. That's it," Finn said encouragingly. "You're safe here. See?" He pushed his fingers farther into the cage.

"Careful," Poe warned him. "No matter how cute that fluffball is, a cornered animal is always dangerous."

"Fluffball? Really?"

Poe shrugged. "I was trying it out. Fluffy then."

Fluffy looked at them with wide, liquid eyes.

BB-8 beeped encouragingly.

Finn held his breath.

Quick as a flash, the animal darted forward and snatched the piece of cake from his fingers. It carried its treasure to its preferred spot against the back of the cage and swallowed it whole.

Finn smiled. He looked to Poe who was sitting on the ground with his forearms resting on his knees, the simple happiness he felt inside his own chest reflected in Poe's grin. It was sometimes easy to forget that there was a life outside war and political upheaval, and that pleasure could be found in the mundane - such as Poe looking handsome and dashing which was indeed an everyday thing that nonetheless made Finn's heart speed up whenever he took the time to look closely.

He broke off another piece of cake, and then another and another, until, at last, there was no more and Fluffy took hold of his fingers, his head bobbing over and under them as he searched for more.

Finn curled them up and cautiously stroked underneath his chin. He was rewarded with a low purr.

"Not scared anymore are you?" He smiled. "Tell you what, if you promise not to run away, I'll take you to the mess hall. I'm pretty sure our last supply shipment included some horned melon. You might like that."

He reached for the cage door.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Poe cautioned. "Just take the whole cage."

"He's harmless, Poe. And I don't want to keep him locked up." Quietly, he added, "He deserves his freedom. If he doesn't want to stay, he doesn't have to."

He opened the cage, and then everything happened very, very fast.

Big, round eyes narrowed to slits, three dozen claws sprang forth from soft pawns, and the critter hissed, exposing two rows of needle-sharp teeth before it launched itself at him.

He heard Poe's shout of alarm as he jerked away and sprawled onto his back. His vision filled with fur and death, and then, even as he imagined feeling claws tear into him, BB-8 barreled over his chest and knocked Fluffy off-course.

Finn blinked, his heart in his throat. Poe was beside him in an instant petting him down. "Kriff, are you okay? Did it get you? Fuck, that thing is fast."

"I'm… I'm okay. I'm good. BB-8…"

He and Poe twisted around to see the astromech and Fluffy rolling around the hangar bay. Fluffy's screeching drowned out BB-8's enraged beeping, and it was difficult to see where one of them ended and the other began.

Kaydel hastily jumped out of their way when they rolled past the ship on which she'd been working.

"What is that thing?" Rose called out as she jumped off an elevated platform.

Finn and Poe exchanged a glance.

"No idea," they said in unison while Poe kicked the wire cage quickly back under the shelf and out of sight.

It was Jess who grabbed a bucket of water and upended it above the two combatants while Poe and Finn scrambled to their feet.

The screeching and beeping stopped.

Quick as lightning, Fluffy dashed across the ground. He shook himself and turned around, chattering at them as if he wanted to scold them. Then he hissed at BB-8 one last time before he disappeared between the grounded ships.

BB-8 gave a mournful beep as he turned his optical lens towards Jess.

"I'm sorry, BB-8. It's the first thing I could think of."

Finn grabbed a mostly clean rag from the shelves and kneeled next to the droid to dry him off.

"Thank you," he said quietly.

BB-8 beeped the binary equivalent of "families protect each other" at him and lowered his head so Finn could towel off his other side.

Finn's felt a lump in his throat. It didn't ease when Poe crouched down next to him.

"So, still want to pick up more food for our fierce little squirrel?" he asked, a shit-eating grin splitting his face.

BB-8 beeped a fierce objection, and Finn, too, shook his head.

"I think it can fend for itself well enough."

* * *

Three days later, the storm still showed no sign of calming, and Finn was getting so sick of being cooped up, that not even the novelty of waking up next to Poe could quell the persistent itch under his skin. He wanted to get out into the open air and see the sky above him.

The confined quarters reminded him too much of the training compound and looking at the closed hangar doors started to evoke the same oppressive feeling as looking at the inside of his Stormtrooper helmet had.

There were times when it was hard for him to believe that it had been less than two years since he'd pulled it over his head for the last time. So much had happened since then.

Getting dressed, he tugged the corners of his blanket under the mattress and fluffed out his pillow, (a habit he'd found hard to break) before he left his and Poe's quarters.

Shouting reached his ears from the mess hall, and he quickened his stride, wondering how much chaos Fluffy had caused today.

The animal had not gone back into hiding. Trapped inside the base just as they were, it had taken to the readily available source of food and become a frequent visitor to the kitchen and storage rooms.

Locked doors did not deter it, food that they'd sat out in the hangar bay disappeared between one second and the next, but that didn't stop Fluffy from plundering the kitchen. Finn had even sat up another trap, but Fluffy had left a very smelly present in front of the cage door. It almost felt as if he was mocking them.

To top it all off, the fight between Fluffy and BB-8 had turned into a feud.

Whether it was a case of BB-8 making it his mission to hunt Fluffy down, or Fluffy hunting BB-8 to settle a score, the two were frequently seen chasing each other through the halls and fighting in the hangar bay.

It had become a full-time job to keep the two apart.

"Watch out," Jess yelled as he stepped through the entrance.

There was no time to move. A streak of blue and silver dashed past his legs, a furiously beeping droid hot on its heels.

"BB-8!" Finn called after him, but they were already out of sight.

"It's no wonder this thing is eating all our supplies. With all that fighting and running, it probably burns enough calories for five of us." Kaydel said.

"And it eats for ten," Poe grumbled as Finn slid onto the bench next to him.

"Can't you get BB-8 to stop going after it? Maybe that would give us all some breathing room," Jess said as she twirled a paring knife between her fingers. Kaydel handed her a melon, which she sliced into even pieces.

Poe swallowed the rest of his breakfast. "I tried. He told me to stay out of it because, and I quote 'It's personal.'"

"Do I want to know what that means?" Finn asked. He accepted the plate of sliced melon Kaydel handed him with a nod.

Poe threw up his hands. "If you're brave enough, you're welcome to ask him. I won't." He squeezed Finn's shoulder affectionately as he got up. "See you later."

* * *

That night, when he and Poe returned to their quarters, the sight behind the sliding door stopped them dead in their tracks.

"What in all the blue blazes?" Finn took in the overturned furniture, the shredded blanket, and the singed mattress. It looked like a tornado had torn through their quarters.

"More like two of them," Poe said, and Finn realized that he'd said the words out loud.

They stepped cautiously into the room.

"How did they even get in here?" Poe wondered.

"It's not like the locked storeroom ever stopped Fluffy."

"Sure, but B-" Poe's voice trailed off as they rounded the corner.

In the center of the room, surrounded by splintered wood from a sideboard and nestled between an overturned desk and a miraculously still upright chair was BB-8, his head slumped forward, signaling that he'd powered down to standby mode. On top of his spherical body was Fluffy, curled up and blinking at them only half awake before he stretched, exposing teeth and claws with a lazy yawn.

"I don't believe this. Pinch me. Quick." Finn held out his arm while BB-8 beeped at them sleepily. His chassis was covered in scratches. Fluffy's tail was singed.

Poe snorted and threw his arm around Finn's shoulders instead. "Aw. Look at them. They're battle buddies now."

Finn looked in dawning horror at droid and critter.

"You know what that means, right? We have a pet now."

Poe slapped him twice on the chest before he walked away. "Naha. _You_ trapped it. _You_ have a pet now."

Finn watched as Fluffy curled up on top of the droid and went back to sleep.

"BB-8 has a pet now?" he suggested hopefully.

Poe heaved their shredded mattress onto its other side and tested whether or not it was still serviceable.

He grinned back at him. "Works for me."


End file.
